Lei Zhengfu: Sex, Bribes and Videotapes

Lei Zhengfu, a former regional Communist Party official, attends his trial at a court in Chongqing municipality June 19, 2013.

The portly and bug-eyed Lei Zhengfu, former party secretary of Chongqing’s Beibei district, shot to notoriety when a video of him having sex in 2008 with then 18-year-old Zhao Hongxia was leaked online. Zhao was hired by a property developer to have sex with Lei as a means of blackmailing him. The sex tape was filmed without his knowledge and later posted on the Internet. Lei was not prosecuted for his sexcapade but sentenced in June to 13 years’ jail for taking more than $500,000 in bribes. That scandal led to the sacking of 11 officials. Lei said in court: “Although I’m quite lecherous, I’m not greedy for money.”